The next morning, Xu Qiang was invited to Zhang Zhen's office.

The completion of the aramid paper mass production project can be said to be the most outstanding scientific research project of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building in the past two years. The key lies in breaking the foreign blockade and saving a lot of foreign exchange. At the same time, it promoted the development of domestic related industries, especially the military and aerospace industries. In this sense, Xu Qiang's contribution is quite large, and it can even confirm his position as a technical leader in the domestic chemical industry.

It is also because of this that, although there were many heads of national key projects who came to Beijing to receive awards at this time, only Xu Qiang was able to meet Zhang Zhen in person.

This was also the second meeting between Xu Qiang and Minister Zhang Zhen.

Liu Siying, who came to receive the award with Xu Qiang and also participated in the aramid paper mass production project, got the opportunity to meet the minister together with Xu Qiang.

On the way from the guesthouse to Minister Zhang's office, Liu Siying was obviously a little surprised. This was her first time to meet such a big leader, so she was excited and a little nervous, looking at Xu Qiang from time to time.

"It's okay. Minister Zhang is a nice person. He is not a tiger and won't eat you." Xu Qiang saw this and said to her with a smile.

"What do you think I should say when I meet Minister Zhang?" Liu Siying said, biting her lower lip lightly.

"Just be the same as usual. Just answer whatever he asks." Xu Qiang paused, then continued, "The only thing you need to pay attention to is to be more modest. Minister Zhang likes down-to-earth people."

"In fact, I didn't help much with the award-winning project this time. I just found some information for you..."

"That's a great help to me." Xu Qiang smiled and continued, "Didn't you hear what Assistant Director Zhao of Changchun Zhongshan Research Institute said yesterday? He just serves tea and water to the director every day, and he still gets a share of the award, so you don't have to worry about these things. What's more, Minister Zhang came to see us mainly because of the aramid paper mass production project, which is the most important project. You have made an indispensable contribution to the success of this project, and your contribution is no less than mine."

"I can't compare with you." Although Liu Siying said this, there was obviously more confidence on her face.

"I will come and talk to Minister Zhang when the time comes, and you can just sit nearby."

"Yeah." Liu Siying nodded when she heard that.

In fact, Liu Siying is very good at socializing and dealing with people. She has a quick mind, is well-spoken, and has excellent eloquence. However, it was her first time meeting such a big leader, so she was naturally a little nervous.

But Xu Qiang could always give her a sense of security. It seemed that as long as Xu Qiang was around, Liu Siying had nothing to worry about. This feeling had even begun to become a kind of dependence, and it also made their relationship gradually warmer.

Led by Secretary Wang, Xu Qiang and Liu Siying came to Zhang Zhen's office.

"Haha, you two take a seat, Xiao Wang, make them some tea!"

Seeing Xu Qiang and Liu Siying appear at the door of her office, Zhang Zhen immediately greeted them with a smile on her face.

Now Xu Qiang is undoubtedly Zhang Zhen's favorite general. He completed the research and development project of aramid paper in just two months. Such efficiency has never been seen before.

Moreover, for the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, they also need "fresh blood" like Xu Qiang. After all, scientific research has always been a continuation of the past and the future. Xu Qiang is so young, as long as he is well trained, he will definitely bring more surprises in the future.

"Hello, Minister Zhang." Liu Siying greeted him softly at this time.

"You are Comrade Liu Siying, right?" Zhang Zhen glanced at Liu Siying and asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Liu Siying nodded.

"I have also learned about your situation." Zhang Zhen smiled slightly, and then said, "Your father, Comrade Liu Biao, is the director of Factory 9304. He does an excellent job and manages a factory with employees in a very successful manner. And you are also young and promising. You have presided over and participated in the development of many military projects. Your family has made a lot of contributions to our country's military industry. This is a very rare thing." Zhang Zhen obviously learned about Liu Siying's resume. In fact, Zhang Zhen had read the information of the experts in the ministry who won the National Science and Technology Progress Award this time.

It's just that Liu Siying's resume is indeed quite eye-catching, because in the award-winning lists of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building over the years, the winners are generally older, with an average age of around 58 years old, and Liu Siying is only years old this year. It is indeed very rare for someone to win an award at such an age.

Of course, although Liu Siying is not the project leader in the military battery project, she is also a core member. Just like this aramid paper project, she has played a very important role in the success of the project.

"Thank you for the praise." Seeing that Minister Zhang in front of him looked more like a kind-hearted old man, Liu Siying felt relieved.

"The future belongs to you young people. Everyone has come step by step, but you have a high starting point now, and compared to our era, the conditions in all aspects are much better." Zhang Zhen paused, and then said: "In the future, the department will definitely focus on training young technical workers like you. You also need to strengthen your studies, keep making progress, make more contributions to the country, and at the same time improve your own life value..."

"We must live up to Minister Zhang's expectations." Xu Qiang said at this time.

"Xiao Xu, I didn't expect you to complete the mass production of aramid paper so quickly. I'm very happy!" Zhang Zhen praised Xu Qiang and then said, "You have worked very hard in the past two months, right?"

"Work is hard all the time. It's just because I'm greedy for the project bonus, so it's reasonable for me to work hard," said Xu Qiang.

"Hahaha!" Zhang Zhen burst into laughter when he heard that.

Liu Siying, who was standing by, was surprised to see that Xu Qiang dared to talk to Zhang Zhen like that. She knew that Xu Qiang was bold, but she didn't expect him to be so bold that he actually talked directly to Minister Zhang about the bonus.

You have to know that these days the rewards within the system are still mainly based on honors. Talking to leaders about money and rewards is considered a very materialistic behavior and will be despised.

But what she didn't know was that Zhang Zhen was an easy-going and open-minded leader, and the two had eaten together before and were already familiar with each other. What's more, Xu Qiang knew that he was now Zhang Zhen's "favorite general", and as long as he could complete the tasks assigned by him, other things would not matter. It was similar to the relationship he had with Liu Biao when he was at the Shengli Machinery Factory.

"Regarding the bonus issue, I have discussed it with the First Ministry of Machine Building before. After this National Science and Technology Conference is over, we will organize a special commendation meeting to reward your aramid paper project team. The preliminary bonus is 5,000 yuan. As the project leader, you will receive a bonus of 2,000 yuan!" Zhang Zhen obviously did not shy away from the bonus issue, so he said directly to Xu Qiang.

"Two thousand yuan!" Liu Siying was surprised when she heard the number. She didn't expect the bonus from the department to be so high.

When Liu Siying was developing the electronic proximity fuse for the factory, she won a prize at the provincial level, but the final prize money she received was only 240 yuan, which Liu Siying thought was already a very high prize. But she did not expect that the prize money for the aramid paper project this time would be as high as 2,000 yuan.

But after hearing the amount, Xu Qiang just smiled slightly. After all, two thousand yuan was not a lot of money for him now.

"In fact, your aramid paper mass production project has made a great contribution to our country. It not only breaks the foreign technology blockade, but also saves a lot of foreign exchange for the country. So this bonus is not much..." Zhang Zhen pondered for a moment, and then said: "However, the success of this aramid paper project is rare in the past two years, both in terms of technical difficulty and its importance to related domestic industries. In my experience, this project can be selected for next year's National Science and Technology Awards Competition, and it should be a strong contender for the first prize. By then, the State Council will also reward you heavily..."

"That's great!" It was only at this time that Xu Qiang's face finally showed joy.

As the Minister of the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, since Zhang Zhen said so, it should be a foregone conclusion that Xu Qiang will win the National Science and Technology Progress Award again next year!
Moreover, Xu Qiang also understood that among the other key scientific research projects in the country, there was probably no one that could be compared with the aramid paper project. With the "endorsement" of Zhang Zhen and the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, winning the National Progress First Prize was almost a foregone conclusion!
Although Xu Qiang has already won the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, in fact, there is a big difference between the first prize and the second prize. From the judging perspective, in addition to the difference in technical difficulty, there are also the economic and social benefits brought by the product projects, as well as the impact on the entire industry. These are all judging criteria for distinguishing the levels of awards.

In addition, looking at the history of this award, many of the people who won the first prize and the special prize are well-known meritorious scientists in the country, including Yuan Longping, Deng Jiaxian, Yu Min, Cheng Kaijia and so on.

Moreover, some of them have won the award more than once. They have long occupied the commanding heights of Chinese science and technology, and have become figures in history, and will be remembered forever by future generations.

So the pursuit of honor is endless.

Although Xu Qiang is also a genius, he did not have the opportunity to win such an award in his previous life. However, after his rebirth, with the advanced technology and theoretical knowledge that he has mastered that are decades ahead of this era, he has the ability to occupy the top of domestic science and technology! (End of this chapter)